A man was stabbing men, mostly black, who were walking late at night or early in the morning on major roadways.

By Aug. 4, 2010, five men were dead. Another nine had been attacked but survived, all since late May, the worst killing spree in the city’s history.

Local police departments, the state police and the FBI formed a task force and put out the word — a serial killer was on the loose.

A survivor’s description of the attacker provided police with a composite sketch, which was released Aug. 6. Some of the surviving victims described the green-over-gold SUV the attacker drove.

The description of the attacks and the SUV, publicized by the media, brought word of three more similar attacks in Virginia and another in Ohio in early August. The killer who was stalking Flint men also was hunting elsewhere.

“There was a lot of tension in the air,” recalled Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton. “We realized we had to find this guy. The people (on the task force) worked around the clock.”

FileElias Abuelazam is escorted to the finger printing station as inmates waiting to be processed press against the windows at Genesee County Jail on August 26, 2010.

The sketch, the details on the SUV and news of other attacks produced a call to a hotline set up by the task force naming a man who worked at a Beecher party store and had ties to Virginia.

That man, a 33-year-old Israeli named Elias Abuelazam, was sitting in an Atlanta airport at 10 p.m. Aug. 11, 2010, waiting to board a plane back to his native country.

Moments before he was to board that plane, authorities arrested him.

“When we finally caught him, there was a cheer that erupted,” said Leyton, who was waiting for word of the capture at the state police post in Flint Township, where the task force was headquartered. “It was very exciting.”

Fast forward a year.

Abuelazam, now 34, is charged with three open counts of murder and six counts of assault with intent to murder. He remains in the Genesee County Jail, in solitary confinement, locked down 23 hours a day.

His trial may start this fall, pending results of psychological exams.

The survivors and the families of the deceased still are haunted.

Ryan Garza | The Flint Journal Serial stabber victim Etwan Wilson, 18, of Flint, talks about his life one year after being attacked and his outlook on the case which has been postponed multiple times. ...Wilson was attacked Aug. 1st, 2010 on Cloverlawn Street, near Pierson Road in Flint.

“I thought about it walking the street (Thursday) night,” said Etwan Wilson, now 18, of Flint. “I think about it when it’s dark outside. I think about it every time I see a Jimmy (SUV). I’m in a lot of pain still, my back and my chest.”

Wilson was walking alone Aug. 1, 2010, in the area of Cloverlawn Drive and Pierson Road. A large man in a green-over-gold SUV was pulled over. He motioned Wilson over to the vehicle, asking for directions.

That’s when the man pounced, stabbing Wilson in the stomach. Wilson was able to get away and was taken to the hospital.

Last Tuesday, the family of Arnold Minor, 49, who was killed Aug. 2, 2010, held a candlelight vigil on the one-year anniversary of his death near the site of his slaying on Saginaw Street near 12th Street.

Minor’s mother, Elzora Minor, carried his ashes at her side during the vigil. She said she has gone to the Genesee County courthouse countless times to attend hearings in her son’s slaying case, often only to find that they’d been postponed.

“He was a good person, and we’ve been waiting for justice,” she said.

Ryan Garza | The Flint Journal Stephanie Ward (left) and her mother Elzora Minor, of Flint, stand with the remains of Minor's son Arnold Minor, 49, at the scene where her was killed one year ago on Tuesday on South Saginaw Street in Flint.
Suspected serial stabber Elias Abuelazam has been charged in his death.

Hunch leads to manhunt

Flint Township police Detective Randy Kimes was headed to work Aug. 2, 2010, when he heard on the police radio about the stabbing death of a man in Flint. The victim was Minor.

Just three days earlier, 60-year-old Frank Kellybrew was stabbed to death near Home Town Inn on Miller Road in what seemed like a random act of violence.

Acting on a hunch, Kimes went the Flint homicide scene, where he immediately saw similarities to his own case.

“It appeared that somebody was walking down the roadway, had been assaulted and tried to run away,” said Kimes. “The fact that neither victim had been robbed of their wallets, right away that raises your suspicions. The time of the day, early in the morning and late at night, was the same.”

Kimes learned Minor’s death was the fourth fatal stabbing since May 24. There also had been a string of stabbings in the city in which the victims survived.

The county’s police chiefs convened an emergency meeting. At the meeting, authorities learned that Burton had a stabbing July 12 and Genesee Township had one July 19. Both victims had survived.

The circumstances of the stabbings were identical: A muscular man in a green-over-gold SUV approached men and asked for directions or said he had car trouble. As the victim approached, he would attack, stabbing them several times.

“There were too many coincidences, and cops don’t believe in coincidences,” said Flint police Capt. T.P. Johnson. “The randomness was somewhat frightening. A stabbing is very personal.”

Aug. 2 also was the day when Abuelazam left the Flint area to visit relatives in Leesburg, Va.

There, three men were attacked, two stabbed and one hit in the head with a hammer in separate attacks Aug. 3 to 6. All survived, and all described an SUV similar to the one in the Flint attacks.

On Aug. 7, a man in Toledo, Ohio, was stabbed but survived.

Then came the hotline tip.

“It was a citizen caring enough to come forward,” said Johnson. “People said the sketch didn’t look like him, but apparently it looked enough like him to someone.”

They also learned he was in Virginia when those attacks occurred, and he was headed back to Michigan when the Toledo incident occurred.

Police believed they had their man — now they just had to find him. They learned he lived with an uncle at a house on Maryland Avenue in Flint. He had a valid green card and lived in Genesee County in the mid-1990s before leaving, then returning in May 2010.

Task force detectives were on the prowl the night of Aug. 11.

“That was like an all-nighter,” recalled Kimes. “We had 20 detectives out looking for him.”

Meanwhile, flight records revealed Abuelazam had boarded a plane from Detroit to Louisville, Ky., and on to Atlanta.

The 6-feet-5-inch, 280-pound Abuelazam was arrested by federal officials without incident at the Atlanta airport.

The case and the aftermath

Prosecutors began building a case against Abuelazam.

A shoelace stained with what turned out to be Kellybrew’s blood was found in a bag belonging to Abuelazam. Minor’s blood was found in Abuelazam’s vehicle.

A witness said she observed Abuelazam’s SUV and then saw a friend, Darwin Marshall, stabbed on the ground July 26 on Garland Street near Fifth Avenue in Flint.

The three murder cases have been bound over to Circuit Court.

Abuelazam has been examined by four psychologists, from the defense and prosecution, said Leyton.

The case is awaiting the last of the results of those exams before it can move forward, Leyton said.

The wait likely will be even longer for victims outside Michigan.

Although Abuelazam has been indicted in the Toledo attack, prosecutors there are awaiting the outcome of the Genesee County cases before proceeding. Likewise, Virginia officials have said they will monitor what happens here before moving forward with their cases against Abuelazam.

Abuelazam’s lawyer, Brian Morley, has called the DNA evidence troubling. His lawyers have filed a motion of intent for the insanity defense and for a change of venue.

“It’s a tough case, a tragic case,” said Morley. “I’m looking forward to trial. (The insanity defense is) all contingent on what happens with the psych exams.”

Abuelazam’s extended stay in the county jail has not been without incident, said Sheriff Robert Pickell. A man tried to poison Abuelazam’s food late last year, and Abuelazam attacked a guard, said Pickell.

“The longer he is locked up, the more of a problem he is becoming,” Pickell said. “He is more demanding, thinking the sheriff’s (department is) trying to poison him.”

Wilson said it is frustrating the case is proceeding so slowly. He said he is concerned that Abuelazam won’t “get what he deserves.”

He said he wants justice because the pain remains — both mentally and physically.

“I don’t really like to go out where there is a lot of people,” said Wilson. “I don’t feel comfortable. I have a feeling of fear and anxiety.”

It doesn’t seem like a year has gone by, and the recovery process will last much longer, he said.

“That’s a process that might take years,” Wilson said. “It still feels like it happened yesterday.”

Staff writer Khalil AlHajal contributed to this report.

Attacks

A list of the attacks that officials believe are linked to Elias Abuelazam:

• May 24, 2010: David Motley, 31, was found dead around 6 a.m. near Leith and Dexter in Flint. Abuelazam has not been charged in this case.

• June 21: Emmanuel Abdul Muhammad, 59, was found dead about 2 a.m. near Avenue B and Wood Street in Flint. Abuelazam has not been charged in this case, either.

• June 26: Bill Fisher, then 42, was attacked around 5:50 a.m. on Pierson Road near Clio. Abuelazam faces a charge of assault with intent to murder.

• July 12: Antoine Jackson, then 29, was stabbed at around 1:30 a.m. near Saginaw Street and Maple Road in Burton. Abuelazam faces a charge of assault with intent to murder.

• July 19: Richard Booker was attacked about 12:15 a.m. near North Saginaw and Juliah Avenue in Genesee Township. Abuelazam faces a charge of assault with intent to murder.

• July 23: A 21-year-old man was stabbed about 5:45 a.m. 5:45 a.m. on University Avenue near King Avenue. Abuelazam is not charged in this case.

• July 26: Darwin Marshall, 43, was found stabbed to death about 1:25 a.m. on Garland Street near West Fifth Avenue. Abuelazam is charged with an open count of murder.

• July 27: Antwoine Marshall, then 26, was attacked about 3 a.m. near Pierson and Fleming. Abuelazam faces a charge of assault with intent to murder.

• July 29: Davon Rawls, 20, was stabbed around 3:30 a.m. at Leith and Cook streets. Abuelazam faces a charge of assault with intent to murder.

• July 29: A 59-year-old man was stabbed about 6 a.m. near Saginaw and 12th streets. Abuelazam is not charged in this case.

• July 30: A 28-year-old was stabbed around 6 a.m. on South Saginaw Street near West Second Street.

• July 30: Frank Kellybrew, 60, was stabbed to death around 3:30 a.m. near the Home Town Inn on Miller Road in Flint Township. Abuelazam is charged with an open count of murder.

• Aug 1: Etwan Wilson, 18, was attacked about 2:30 a.m. near Pierson and Basil in Flint. Abuelazam faces a charge of assault with intent to murder.

• Aug. 2: Arnold Minor, 49, was found dead at about 2:30 a.m. on South Saginaw Street near Barton Street in Flint. Abuelazam is charged with an open count of murder.

• Aug. 3: A teenager taking a nighttime jog was attacked in Leesburg, Va. Abuelazam is not charged in this case.

• Aug 5: A 67-year-old man was stabbed at 6 a.m. in Leesburg. Abuelazam is not charged in this case.

• Aug. 6: A man in Leesburg was struck in the head with a hammer. Abuelazam is not charged in this case.

• Aug 7: A 59-year-old man was stabbed outside a Toledo, Ohio, church. Abuelazam has been indicted in the case.